No Way. I Actually Like 'Pain & Gain'

So. I see Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson with the weights, big muscles, and an American flag behind them, and I see (in very small letters) it's a Michael Bay production, so I'm not pumped (sorry) to watch the flick or the trailer. But, what the hell, I'll give it a spin.

Starts situational, typical. Looking like a by-the-numbers sit-com-y comedy. Boring. Then, we get deeper into these characters and they actually seem real. Iron pumping cheeseheads, yeah, but like real cheeseheads out there -- believable. Now the movie is interesting.

Then, Ed Harris? He's in this? What's he doing in a movie like this? Who cares. I'm in, I'll watch this, I'm sold.

Then, we learn it's a true story and that's when the pieces start to fit. It had that 'too stupid to be made up' quality that makes you go 'wha?'. No screenwriter would pound this shit out. So, I look it up. This movie is based on the Sun Gym Gang killings in Miami in the 90s. Here's a clip from the Miami New Times:

• For weeks, he said, he'd been chained to a wall and tortured in unspeakable ways. He'd been forced to sign away his house, his investments, his bank accounts, his life insurance. In the end the kidnappers tried to kill him, and they nearly succeeded. Although blindfolded during the ordeal, he recognized one of his captors: a former business partner, a protégé. Help me, he begged Du Bois. He wanted his house back; he needed his money. But most important, he had to make sure they wouldn't find him and finish the job.

And all the sudden, just like that, 'Pain & Gain' has become must-see. Love it, can't wait, looks great.






















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